Climate change bill plan due before NI Executive

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that does not have its own climate legislation

Draft proposals for Northern Ireland's first climate change bill will be brought to the Executive shortly.

A Stormont scrutiny committee heard they would set a legally binding target of "at least" an 82% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.

They will also include interim targets, plans on how to achieve them and a reporting system to assess progress.

If approved, the policy proposals will be drafted into a Climate Change Bill for assembly debate and scrutiny.

The ambition is to have the bill passed by the end of the current Stormont term next year.

Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK not to have its own climate legislation and targets.

But it does contribute to the overall UK effort in emissions reduction.

Last year, the government's climate advisory body, the Committee on Climate Change, said an 82% reduction was Northern Ireland's fair share towards the UK's stated ambition of Net Zero by 2050.

Several committee members said the bill should take account of the importance of agri-food to the Northern Ireland economy

It said going further and faster would be challenging due to the economic reliance on agri-food, the biggest emitting sector.

Stormont's Agriculture and Environment Committee was told that as well as putting that target on a legislative footing, the bill would allow scope for greater ambition.

Draft proposals include setting five-year carbon budgets to cap the amount of emissions and reports to the assembly on progress against those targets.

The Committee on Climate Change would also be asked to provide independent oversight.

Several committee members said the bill should take account of the importance of agri-food to the Northern Ireland economy and the ability of that sector to sequester as well as emit greenhouse gases.

It would be wrong, they said, to force agriculture to make cuts only for carbon efficient production to be off-shored to other countries where food was produced without considering the climate.

Other MLAs suggested that an 82% reduction demonstrated a lack of ambition.

Officials who briefed the committee said that it was not a "cop-out" and would prove "incredibly challenging" when set against a 20% reduction in emissions over the last 30 years.

A separate Climate Change Bill brought forward as a piece of private member's legislation is still under consideration for introduction to the assembly.